The field of the present invention is dolls. More particularly, the field of the present invention is soft children's dolls.
Various children's dolls have been known in the past. For example, Corriveau, U.S. Pat. No. 4,208,832 discloses a constructable animal doll having various limbs or appendages releasably attachable to a body using Velcro-type attachment strips, to a form a variety of animal figures. In addition, other known dolls have encompassed various elements of the sports equipment, such as baseballs and baseball bats. For example, Allison, U.S. Design Pat. No. D 49,916 illustrates a toy figure having a ball-like head and torso including stitching. McMahan, U.S. Design Pat. Nos. 90,080 and 90,081, and Allison, U.S. Design Pat. No. 46,241 similarly illustrate a doll figure having a ball-like head and body. Moreover, Townsend, U.S. Design Pat. No. 62,294 discloses a toy figure having a football-like torso.
While these known prior art dolls may incorporate one or more sports articles, as far as is known, there has been no doll comprising several sports articles in an attractive arrangement suitable for use by children.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to an improved doll. To this end, the instant doll comprises a substantially spherical head and spherical body. A pair of elongate and generally cylindrical arms and a pair of oblong legs are provided. The head, arms, and legs are releasably attachable to the body with, for example, a hook and loop fastener, such as Velcro. The head, arms, legs, and body are made of a soft upholstered construction, including a soft interior filling or stuffing and a soft cloth outer covering or shell.
Preferably, each of the arms is shaped like a baseball bat, and each of the legs is shaped like a football. Most desirably, the head is white, the body is orange, and the legs are brown. The body is ordinarily 2 to 5 times larger in diameter than the head.
In a preferred embodiment, the head is provided with stitched facial features, the body includes embroidered black longitudinal lines or meridians to suggest a basketball, and the legs include football markings and stitching.
Preferably, the legs are releasably attachable to the body generally on opposite sides of the body, with the arms similarly releasably attachable to the body on opposite sides thereof, and spaced apart from the legs, with the head attached to the body at a position in between the arms.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a child's doll comprised of several sports articles in an attractive arrangement.
It is the further object of the invention to provide such a doll having body parts which are releasably attachable to each other such that they may be manipulated by a child at play.
Other and further objects and features of the present invention will appear in the following disclosure.